Days ahead of the highly-anticipated Senate runoff elections in Georgia, Donald Trump placed a call to the state’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger asking him to “find” votes to overturn the state’s election results.
“I just want to find 11, 780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state.” the president can be heard saying during the hour-long call, recorded by Raffensperger.
A campaign rally in Garden Spring, Georgia, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris called Trump’s request a “bald-faced, bold abuse of power by the President of the United States.”
“Have y’all heard about that recorded conversation?” Harris asked voters at the drive-in event on Sunday (January 3). A symphony of car horns responded to the soon-to-be vice president.
“Well it was just certainly the voice of desperation,” she continued. Trump’s call is potentially a criminal act, according to legal experts.
The Washington Post and other news outlets obtained the recording, in which they found Trump both berated Raffensperger, a fellow Republican, while also trying to compliment him, even threatening the secretary of state during the call if he didn’t find the votes he’d be taking “a big risk.”
Raffensperger had his office’s attorney on the call as well. Both men rejected Trump’s requests and explained that he’s relying on baseless conspiracy theories to fuel election fraud allegations. Trump lost the Peach State’s 16 electoral votes by 11,779 votes. The state conducted three recounts of millions of ballots, including a by-hand recount.
Voters in the state are already preparing for a delay in results of Tuesday’s (January 5) runoff elections, given the national attention and continued attempts at interference by Trump from November’s elections.
Photos: Getty Images